Scores of illegal medical marijuana dispensaries are still cropping up in Los Angeles and hundreds of existing centers that were supposed to close remain open, creating huge business headaches for owners allowed to continue operating under a new law.

The fallout of the situation is significant:

– Legal, compliant dispensaries are not yet seeing the expected benefits of consolidation, such as increased pricing power and foot traffic.

– Many dispensaries that can remain open under the law but must move further away from schools, parks, churches and community centers can’t find a new location, with owners saying that the illegal shops are occupying the only available spaces. In other cases, owners have used high-priced mapping services to find a suitable building, only to discover after putting tens of thousands of dollars down on a lease that the location doesn’t qualify (ie, there’s a nearby school in a high-rise building that the mapping service didn’t identify).

– Landlords have driven up prices, as demand for dispensary space is high given the new location restrictions and the prevalence of pop-up, fly-by-night centers that are willing to pay huge sums in rent.

– Some of the illegal centers are offering medical marijuana at rock-bottom prices and essentially selling to anyone who comes in the door, allowing them to attract hundreds of customers a day. That’s pushing down prices even further, making it harder for the legit dispensaries to compete. The newer illegal centers often simply move locations when ordered to shut down by the city.

“We are seeing more illegal dispensaries open every day,” said Aaron Justis, chief executive officer of Buds and Roses, a dispensary in Studio City that is on a list of 134 MMJ centers allowed to continue operating. “It’s hard to be optimistic when new stores open weekly and their signs say they are…compliant when they are not, and no enforcement happens against them.”

In May, Los Angeles residents voted in favor of a measure (Proposition D) to force most of the city’s estimated 800-1,000 dispensaries to close. Only the 134 identified centers that were open before a 2007 moratorium can continue operating – a hugely controversial stipulation that has split the MMJ industry.

Los Angeles has moved slowly on the enforcement end. Last week, the city said it has taken actions to shutter 38 dispensaries, adding that it will prosecute additional centers every week. An additional 42 dispensaries also voluntarily closed since spring, according to LA officials.

But the new city attorney has put dispensaries operating outside the law on high alert, saying he will significantly step up enforcement.

“We’re going to see a major difference in the way that operators and property owners perceive the city,” City Attorney Mike Feuer vowed at a press conference last week, according to The Los Angeles Times. “They are going to accurately perceive us as moving effectively and systematically to assure that the will of the voters is, in fact, effectuated.”

Still, the industry is skeptical that LA can effectively shut down most non-compliant dispensaries, given the resources required and the difficulty of identifying the fly-by-night operators. Some dispensary owners also have filed legal challenges to the new law. And certain aspects of the new measure are extremely murky, so dispensary owners and lawyers are interpreting it differently, particularly when it comes to where centers are allowed to locate.

At the same time, dozens of dispensaries on the city’s list of approved centers are no longer in existence. Some owners of these failed dispensaries still hold their original licenses and are now selling them to the highest bidder – even though the law stipulates that the center must have been in continuous operation.

When viewed as a whole, these trends show that LA’s medical marijuana industry is still on shaky ground, and it remains one of the most volatile and uncertain MMJ markets in the country. Or, as one dispensary owner described the situation: “It’s a nightmare.”

It’s a nightmare for the greedy corporatist…So what charge the dispensaries with zoning violations -big whoop.. Medical Cannabis is California state law and it ain’t going away unless the voters get rid of it…We’re already taxed and regulated to death in Cali so unless the next ballot initiative unconditionally legalizes I’ll hope Cali voters are smart enough to vote against it..

These places like buds and roses are already multimillion dollar so called non profits. Now they are crying about competition? Prohibition is unethical, so are government created monopolies. Funny how buds and roses is now on the side of the prohibitionists now that they have a golden ticket

these illegal dispensaries do cause a lot of issues for both legal dispensaries and patients. If any patients need help in finding legitimate dispensaries that have remained open in the los angeles area, visit http://wheresweed.com/los-angeles

POOR LEGAL DISPENSARIES CANT COMPETE :'( I think I will cry.
What they r trying to do is to raise prices for the patient.
Competition is the only thing which will keep they in check.i have been in Buds and Roses, the reason they are bitching so much is because their meds suck. They buy a pound for 2500 max and sell it to patients at a huge profit. Of course they wouldn’t be able to compete.
Congrats we as patients will get high prices shiny weed and horrible customer service, but this is just my opinion

What makes a pre-ico shop more qualified to serve patients? Just because they opened shop before a certain cut off date? Most of the pre-ico shops have little to no compassion for the patients. They’re the ones that pushed for prop D to get rid of their competitors and drive up their profits. The only reason CA, and LA specifically, have the highest quality and the lowest prices hands down is because of the number of shops that are open and available. If enforcement of prop D goes forward and only the pre-ico are allowed to stay open, be prepared for $60-$80 1/8th.

The cost alone to create awesome herb like we have in L.A should drive the price to 60 and 80$ eighth. $35 caps have nothing worth while. So if you don’t care about the quality of your smoke. Then go to the fly-by-night iillegal store fronts and smoke the crap they offer. Trust when I tell you, most guys that run these shops don’t give a fuck about you or your health. They stuff way too many plants into small and cramped conditions. Causing mold, bugs, and a number of problems like poisonious sprays used way beyond the point of being safe that should not be consumed by people.
From what I have seen most “pre ico” shops use growers that are very educated in their fields. And offer a far superior medication as a hole.